Peter Edelman: How Did America Get So Poor?

Peter Edelman: How Did America Get So Poor?

How did we became a nation that fails to help its most needy citizens, and what can be done?

May 31, 2012

Twenty million people in the United States make less than half of the poverty line, which is about $19,000 per year for a family of three. Another 103 million bring home incomes lower than twice the poverty line. Is this because poverty alleviation programs don’t work, or because we have too many low-wage jobs?

Peter Edelman of Georgetown University Law Center joins Laura Flanders to explain how we became a nation that fails to help its most needy citizens and what can be done. Watch the full conversation with Edelman here.